diff --git a/apps/app_seeds/lib/di/injector.dart b/apps/app_seeds/lib/di/injector.dart
index 855e86c..37bb62e 100644
--- a/apps/app_seeds/lib/di/injector.dart
+++ b/apps/app_seeds/lib/di/injector.dart
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import '../services/onboarding_store.dart';
 import '../services/recovery_sheet_service.dart';
 import '../services/share_catalog_service.dart';
 import '../services/social_service.dart';
+import '../services/social_settings.dart';
 
 /// The app's service locator. Kept to the composition root — widgets get their
 /// repositories from here (or via BlocProvider), never by reaching into it deep
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ Future<void> configureDependencies() async {
     ..registerSingleton<LabelTextExtractor>(labelExtractor)
     ..registerSingleton<OnboardingStore>(OnboardingStore(secretStore))
     ..registerSingleton<SocialService>(socialService)
+    ..registerSingleton<SocialSettings>(SocialSettings(secretStore))
     ..registerSingleton<ExportImportService>(
       ExportImportService(
         repository: varietyRepository,
diff --git a/apps/app_seeds/lib/services/social_settings.dart b/apps/app_seeds/lib/services/social_settings.dart
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c33913b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/app_seeds/lib/services/social_settings.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import '../security/secret_store.dart';
+
+/// User choices for the (Block 2) social layer: the coarse area to publish/
+/// browse offers in, and which community relays to talk to. Backed by the OS
+/// keystore (via [SecretStore]) to honour "no plaintext at rest" — no
+/// shared_preferences.
+///
+/// Both default to "unset": empty area and no relays mean the social layer is
+/// simply unavailable, and the app stays fully usable offline.
+class SocialSettings {
+  SocialSettings(this._store);
+
+  final SecretStore _store;
+
+  static const _areaKey = 'tane.social.area_geohash';
+  static const _relaysKey = 'tane.social.relays';
+
+  /// The user's coarse area as a low-precision geohash (may be empty). Set
+  /// manually or from device location; the transport coarsens it further.
+  Future<String> areaGeohash() async => (await _store.read(_areaKey)) ?? '';
+
+  Future<void> setAreaGeohash(String geohash) =>
+      _store.write(_areaKey, geohash.trim().toLowerCase());
+
+  /// Configured community relay URLs (empty by default — the user adds their
+  /// own; we bundle none, to avoid leaking metadata to third-party relays).
+  Future<List<String>> relayUrls() async {
+    final raw = await _store.read(_relaysKey);
+    if (raw == null || raw.isEmpty) return const [];
+    return raw.split('\n').where((s) => s.trim().isNotEmpty).toList();
+  }
+
+  Future<void> setRelayUrls(List<String> urls) => _store.write(
+        _relaysKey,
+        urls.map((u) => u.trim()).where((u) => u.isNotEmpty).join('\n'),
+      );
+
+  /// Whether the social layer has enough config to attempt going online.
+  Future<bool> get isConfigured async =>
+      (await relayUrls()).isNotEmpty && (await areaGeohash()).isNotEmpty;
+}
diff --git a/apps/app_seeds/lib/state/offers_cubit.dart b/apps/app_seeds/lib/state/offers_cubit.dart
index cfdc29b..edf46cd 100644
--- a/apps/app_seeds/lib/state/offers_cubit.dart
+++ b/apps/app_seeds/lib/state/offers_cubit.dart
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import 'package:commons_core/commons_core.dart';
 import 'package:equatable/equatable.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_bloc/flutter_bloc.dart';
 
+import '../services/social_service.dart';
+import '../services/social_settings.dart';
+
 /// State of the offer discovery/publish screen. Transport-agnostic — it holds
 /// only what the UI shows, never a relay handle.
 class OffersState extends Equatable {
@@ -60,9 +63,15 @@ class OffersState extends Equatable {
 /// UI stays offline-tolerant (a null transport = the social layer is unavailable
 /// and the screen degrades gracefully).
 class OffersCubit extends Cubit<OffersState> {
-  OffersCubit(this._transport) : super(const OffersState());
+  OffersCubit(this._transport, {Future<void> Function()? onDispose})
+      : _onDispose = onDispose,
+        super(const OffersState());
 
   final OfferTransport? _transport;
+
+  /// Closes the owning [SocialSession]/connection when the cubit is disposed
+  /// (null in tests, where the transport is a fake with nothing to close).
+  final Future<void> Function()? _onDispose;
   StreamSubscription<Offer>? _sub;
 
   /// Whether a live transport is available (relay configured and reachable).
@@ -113,6 +122,24 @@ class OffersCubit extends Cubit<OffersState> {
   @override
   Future<void> close() async {
     await _sub?.cancel();
+    await _onDispose?.call();
     return super.close();
   }
 }
+
+/// Opens an [OffersCubit] wired to the social layer, or an offline one that
+/// degrades gracefully. Local-first: when no relay is configured (or connecting
+/// fails), the cubit is created with a null transport and the screen still opens.
+Future<OffersCubit> createOffersCubit(
+  SocialService social,
+  SocialSettings settings,
+) async {
+  final relays = await settings.relayUrls();
+  if (relays.isEmpty) return OffersCubit(null);
+  try {
+    final session = await social.openSession(relays.first);
+    return OffersCubit(session.offers, onDispose: session.close);
+  } catch (_) {
+    return OffersCubit(null); // offline / relay unreachable
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/app_seeds/test/services/social_settings_test.dart b/apps/app_seeds/test/services/social_settings_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c7f1f53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/app_seeds/test/services/social_settings_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:tane/security/secret_store.dart';
+import 'package:tane/services/social_settings.dart';
+
+/// In-memory [SecretStore] for tests.
+class FakeSecretStore implements SecretStore {
+  final Map<String, String> _data = {};
+  @override
+  Future<String?> read(String key) async => _data[key];
+  @override
+  Future<void> write(String key, String value) async => _data[key] = value;
+}
+
+void main() {
+  late SocialSettings settings;
+  setUp(() => settings = SocialSettings(FakeSecretStore()));
+
+  test('defaults: empty area, no relays, not configured', () async {
+    expect(await settings.areaGeohash(), '');
+    expect(await settings.relayUrls(), isEmpty);
+    expect(await settings.isConfigured, isFalse);
+  });
+
+  test('stores and normalises the area geohash (trim + lowercase)', () async {
+    await settings.setAreaGeohash('  SP3E9  ');
+    expect(await settings.areaGeohash(), 'sp3e9');
+  });
+
+  test('stores relay urls, dropping blanks', () async {
+    await settings.setRelayUrls([
+      'wss://relay.comunes.org',
+      '  ',
+      'wss://seeds.example.org',
+    ]);
+    expect(await settings.relayUrls(),
+        ['wss://relay.comunes.org', 'wss://seeds.example.org']);
+  });
+
+  test('is configured only with both an area and at least one relay', () async {
+    await settings.setAreaGeohash('sp3e9');
+    expect(await settings.isConfigured, isFalse);
+    await settings.setRelayUrls(['wss://relay.comunes.org']);
+    expect(await settings.isConfigured, isTrue);
+  });
+}